You should have said, "IN fact, I have never been able to get card counting to work for me!"

Let me ask you these questions, and everyone should answer them honestly. If you can't answer YES to most, if not all, of these questions you probably are not playing a winning system. Some questions may not be applicable if you don't play those games:

1) Do you use the basic strategy perfectly (BS charts from my book BJAPR, for example) for "each" game that you have ever played?

2) Can you count a deck of cards down in less than 25 seconds?

3) Can you talk and count at the same time?

4) Can you side count aces in a single deck game with ease?

5) Are you playing only in games with "good" to "excellent" penetration?

6) Are you playing only in games with "good" to "excellent" rules?

7) Are you getting at least a 3 to 1 spread in single deck, 6 to 1 in double deck, and 12 to 1 in shoe games?

8) Are you leaving in negative counts in shoe games?

9) Do you have an adequate bankroll? (e.g., 200 times your maximum bet?)

10) Do you practice daily (at least 1 hour per day for a week) before each major trip? After you have mastered your count you can cut back on this requirement a bit but you still need to practice before each trip.

11) Do you use one of the recommended counts? (See my book BJAPR for recommended counts).

12) Are you disciplined enough to not chase your losses?

13) Are you sure you don't play when you are tired?

14) Have you studied thoroughly the literature and books on the counting system you use?

15) Are you making use of the true count for proper betting and playing decisions? (Ignore this question if you play an unbalanced count.)

16) Have you learned perfectly Don Schlesinger's illustrious 18 play variations and implemented them in your play?

17) Are you cheap when it comes to tipping the dealer?

18) Do you ask for your fair share of comps but never play for comps alone?

19) When you walk by a table and check out the rules can you estimate how much of an advantage "off the top" the casino has?

20) Do you know how much of an advantage (in percent) you have on the next round given the count and number of cards or decks played? An estimate will do fine here.

21) When a pit boss comes by and stares you down do you initiate conversation with him first?

22) When playing single deck do you play "only" head-up or with 1 or 2 other players?

23) Do you stop playing when you are tired?

24) Do you stop playing when playing conditions have worsened? What I mean by this is that the dealer reduces penetration or the table has filled with players.

25) Do you continue to play when conditions are still excellent but you have lost a considerable amount of money?

26) Do you know what the signs of cheating are?

27) Do you plan your casino visits? In otherwords, have you checked the rules and conditions charts and decided beforehand what casinos you are going to play at?

28) DO YOU KEEP A LOG OF WINS AND LOSSES?

29) Do you record other important facts about your sessions so you can learn from your mistakes?

30) Do you feel you are playing "error-rate" is very low?

31) If you drink, do you drink non-alcoholic beverages only when you play? (A watered down alcoholic drink may be OK in some circumstances)

Anyway, those are just a few questions I would ask myself. There are probably a few more and I hope some other posters might be able to come up with them.